Two area men are facing off in the republican primary for the 82nd district house seat.
Incumbent Tony Burkley from Paulding and challenger Craig Riedel from Defiance appeared at a candidates forum in Auglaize county on Thursday night.
Both men are pro-business.
Burkley cites some things the legislature has done during his term to help Ohio businesses.
“One of the things that we did was, on small businesses, pass through companies the first $250,000 of income that they received. Last general assembly we did a 75% tax reduction on that. We wanted to see how it would work. In this general assembly we made that permanent. Next year we made it 100% tax reduction on that first $250,000, “ said Burkley.
Riedel, who has never run for political office, would like to see Ohio become a “right to work” state and see the government loosen its regulator grip on businesses.
“Having worked in the business sector for 27 years, I’ve watched first-hand how the government can really put the handcuffs on business, when it comes to burdensome, unnecessary regulations. That’s going to be a big part of what I want to accomplish, to help companies be successful and businesses be successful because a lot of times, having worked in the business world, you wonder if sometimes if that’s the case, “ said Riedel.
Republicans in the 82nd district will be able to choose between Burkley and Riedel on March 15th.
